Just a general question to other members living in hot climates. Does your Jag's a/c system work well, in your opinion, or really struggle when the car has been parked in the sun?

On my car, for as long as I've had it, I have to be sure the car is parked in the shade, windows cracked open, use a sunscreen in the windshield, and my glass is all Florida tinted. It takes an eternity to get the inside comfortable. Yet it does blow very cold air out of all the vents. My cabin filter is new.

I realized recently how well other cars cool down the interior. My friend has a black on black Mustang, same age as the Jag. No tinted windows, no sunshade, and he leaves it closed up. We go out to lunch and within 2 blocks I'm aiming the vents away from me because it's too cold. My car, in city traffic... forget about being comfortable for 15 minutes. If the outside temp is < 85F it will get cold very fast, and I'm setting the temp up to 72 or 73. With weather in the 90s, I have it set to 68 and it runs full speed on recirc forever.

I know the Jag has a small sized condenser (considering its interior volume), but they sold these cars in Dubai, how could the a/c have worked there? Curious to hear others opinions.

 

I live in the DC area and I have my a/c set to 70 degrees. It's fairly comfortable to me so far. I use the global open to open all the windows and sunroof to get the excess heat out of the car. I keep forgetting to raise the rear sunscreen though. It does help to have a clean cabin filter however. They are fairly easy to install (about a 5 minute job).

 

Living in OZ I would say the A/C performs very well.

I leave mine on year round set to 22C (68F) and never have an issue.
Leaving the car in the sun (up to 40C/104F) it will blow full speed for a few minutes then gradually drop to almost nothing over the first few minutes.

I have the XJR so im not sure how the Diesel or V6 performs but compared to other cars I would say the AC is up there with the best

I would suggest you get you AC checked out. It may be low on gas or have a partial blockage in the Receiver/Dryer and or the TX. At a minimum get the system purged and put in a new receiver/dryer.

You may want to have a look at this thread https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...3/#post1237899

I did the same on 2 cars (series 1 and magna) recently. TX and Receiver/dryer replaced on both. The Magana has symptoms like yours and while the gas was ok the performance was poor. Not sure which part was at fault but you should always replace the reciever/dryer when servicing an AC system.

The Receiver/dryer is the filter for the refrigerant and has probably never been replaced. If this is partially blocked you will have low performance as the flow of refrigerant is low.

The TX converts the refrigerant from liquid to gas and is the part that controls the flow (based on temp) and cause the compressor to cycle. Again a partial blockage will limit performance of the system.

If the gas charge is low, but not low enough to trigger the low pressure sensor, you will again have poor performance

If the condensor is partially blocked normally you wont see any change but you can check the fins

Finally the compressor may be in need of a rebuild. The main reason a compressor gets damaged is a faulty TX or incompetent AC repair. The usual cause of compressor failure is refrigerant (in liquid form) running through the compressor. This may be a leaky TX but 9 out of 10 it was the last guy that charged the system.

To explain that you always charge the system on the low side using gas. Its faster to do it on the high and "Push" liquid but very risky. If the liquid hits the compressor it will damage the seals and if enough hits it it will cause the compressor to fail totally. The difference in time pushing liquid is only a minute or 2 so it makes no sense to do that. People get impatient because it takes 15min to evac the system, followed by 45mins to vac down the system. You need to then wait 45mins to an hour to verify no leaks before charging. So roughly 2 hours waiting for stuff to happen makes people impatient to save a minute or two at the end

Cheers
34by151

 

Here in TX, I feel the way you do about my AC. It does cool down, eventually, but it takes a few minutes, and it seems to run more cool when it's actually driving, vs standing still. The rear sunshade is stuck in up position, so that helps, and the global open via keyfob helps as well.

 

+1 on the Texas and description above, but I have the darkest tint screens and no sunscreen to keep the dash cool. It cools down relatively quickly and I run it at 72f pretty much most of the year round. I really should buy some sun shields for the windscreen.

Cabin air filters can affect the inflow of air if the box has not been cleaned in a while (dead leaves and all manner of crud find their way into the box, restricting air flow). A new cabin air filter can be purchased for about $10 if I remember rightly from Amazon or any local car parts dealership.

 

I'm in the same boat. I vacuumed and recharged my system last week due to poor performance.
I noticed that the low side pressure was slightly high. Hardly any performance. I believe the TXV may be clogged. Anyone have an AC diagram? Where can one find a good deal on TXV and filter?
I also noticed that the driver side vents are way hotter that the passenger side. Possibly baffle door problems. Any advice on removing console oem ash for diagnosis will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

You will be able to get a TX from any auto ac supplier, it a cheep and common part
Make sure you change the dryer as well, again cheep and acts as the filer for the system

You will need to pull out the evaporator to swap the TX. The TX swap is easy but it will take a bit to get the evaporator out. Which is also the time to check out the doors are ok

Cheers
34by151

 

I've removed then center consule, ICE, glove box and blower motor. I can see the heater core but am stuck on which step to take to access the evaporator. Do I need to remove the whole dash? If so where can find the steps?
Thanks!

 

Do you have JTIS?

It shows you how to get the evaporator out.
Once thats done the TX is a simple matter

Cheers
34by151

 

Both.

Metro DC area, and I use the 'global open' to dump the worst of the trapped hot air as I head for the car.

THEN... set the temp all the way down 'til is sez 'lo' instead of a temperature and run for a few minutes.

Thereafter 68F for me, wotever they want for the passengers and it manages 100 F+ days just fine.

Mind - that is all with at least a reasonably clean filter and a proper refrigerant charge.

Not to forget .. if the old R12 systems leaked, there had been nought in there but Freon and a smidgen of lube oil. Adding more was dirt-simple.

The modern replacement is two (or MORE) component plus a lube, and on MINOR leaks they don't leak at the same rate.

At some point, one needs to have the system totally evacuated, pressure tested, repaired if need be - then do a complete refill per specifications to make sure the balance is correct.

 

I have the exact same problem, my friends cars get much colder then mine, even though cold air is coming out of my vents. I have to turn the vents away from my hand on the wheel or it will freeze, but my body will be sweating. I live in southern GA and visit Florida often.

My theory is its a black car under the sun with a lot of sun coming through the windows just making a green house effect. The windows kinda curve in upwards on the side so tons of sun gets in. If its hot but cloudy, Ill be shivering in a few minutes, if its sunny it takes a solid 10-15 minutes like you describe, and even then my back will be hot... I've done all I can, had the A/C recharged, changed the filter and had a shop look at it, all running fine. What I wouldn't give for cooled seats. I love my XJ but on hot days I sometimes regret not getting the BMW 750 that was my other choice with its cooled massaging seats. Part of it might also be the person, I'm not a fat guy but I'm always hot, I'm the guy you see wearing a t-shirt in 45F.